Uche Iwuchukwu condemns high cost of burials in Igboland.
3 min read
An Igbo businessman based in Mozambique by name, Mazi Uche Iwuchukwu has condemned in total terms the wastage of funds by the Igbo people during burials. Mazi Iwuchukwu who made this condemnation in a recent interview with an Umuaka Times correspondent in Mozambique confirmed that many Nigerians especially the Igbo, have sold a lot of their landed properties and went into heavy debts as a result of heavy cost of burial ceremonies.
While comparing the situation in Mozambique and Nigeria, Iwuchukwu said that there are no already made caskets in Mozambique but rather, when someone dies, the carpenters in town will then produce a casket for the burial of the dead. “Even obituary posters are not seen here.”
On the issue of ambulance, he said that “ambulance here is just to carry the victims of accident or sick persons not for the dead. Id anyone loses someone close to him, a neighbor etc will provide his vehicle to convey the dead body to the mortuary.
In a brief press statement he sent to Umuaka Times Iwuchukwu wrote:
Why do we waste huge amount of money on burials???
“I have lived in Mozambique for more than a decade, if I tell you that I have not seen anywhere coffin/casket is sold you may never believe me, but that is a fact.
I have never seen a poster of a deceased before, because they don’t print posters, to them it’s useless and they are right. Let me tell you how they do burial:
When someone dies, women of the neighbourhood will carry a basin going from house to house collecting Shima (garri), when they come to your gate you give them one or two cups of Shima. If you don’t have Shima, you can give money (but people rarely give money) if you don’t have, you don’t give no body will hold it against you anyway. Whatever quantity they were able to collect will be given to the bereaved family and they will add it to the one they have and use it for the burial.
They don’t keep corpses in the morgue for a long time in preparation for “befitting burial” (maximum is two weeks).
When it’s time for burial they will take the measurement of the corps to a nearby carpenter and he will make a coffin for them (with cheap wood). Nobody talks of hiring ambulance because a neighbour that owns an open vehicle will bring it that day to carry the corpse.
After the burial, sympathizers will follow the bereaved to the house and they will make water available for everyone to wash hands before entering the compound (that is the highest thing they expect from the bereaved family).
Whatever you give them they will take it without grudges. There is absolutely nothing like Feliso or Alibros music, everywhere will be calm, there is nothing like twenty canopies for groups, there is nothing like umuada requesting/dragging okporoko/oru ewu etc.
In fact some people will leave after washing their hands.
They don’t even know what is called going to church for our so called “outing service.”
After watching these things I ask myself, why do we celebrate when we lose our loved ones? I call it celebration because that is what we do, some even go to the extent of borrowing money with land and other properties just for burials.
We should learn to mourn our loved ones when they die rather than rejoice.”
Iwuchukwu confirmed to Umuaka Times that they, Nigerians living in the country, find it very hard to convince the people that in Nigeria, millions are spent to bury the dead. When asked if the burial culture in Mozambique is not a function of poverty, he said not at all and went further to advise the Igbo people.
“Lets change our mentality. We are not celebrating Ofala. We should stop this. Many Igbo families have lost a lot of money and went into deep family crisis after embarking on expensive burial ceremonies.”
